Flame thrower for cultivating purposes



Jan. 12, 1965 J. s. HOLLOWAY FLAME THROWER FOR CULTIVATING PURPOSES 2 Sheets-Sheet 1' Filed Jan. 15, 1965 R m, w M 1 3 u ..,..:\w\ y N o A Z mm .M Z: Mm M H W e mm w W m 0 m J Y vm WW v N MN Q Q NW a Q\ 9w Jan. 12, 1965 J. s. HOLLOWAY FLAME THROWER FOR CULTIVATING PURPOSES Filed Jan. 15, 1963 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Fig. 3

96 Joe .S. Hal/away INVENTOR.

@ Attorney:

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' 7 unit comprising the subject matter Yof'the present inven- .vention.

United States Patent 3,164,927 FLAME THROWER FUR CULTIVATING PURPOSES Joe S. Holloway, R0. Box 242, Forney, Tex.

. Filed Earn. 15, 1963, Ser. No. 251,581

I: Claims. (Cl. 47 -1.44)

This invention generally relates to a flame cultivator and particularly to a flame cultivator adapted to be attached to a farrn vehicle such as a tractor orthe like for controlling the growth of grass and weeds.

In brief, the invention comprises a plurality of burner means adapted to be mounted upon the frame of a tractori, Each of said burner means is fed from a gas tank disposed upon the tractor and can be controlled by an operator seated thereon. The burners are transversely disposed at the rear of the tractor in longitudinally staggered' relationship so that flames from each burner unit cannot meet causing an upsurge of flames that might be injurious to the crop. Furthermore, each burner is adapted to be individually adjusted towards and away from the ground level in order to maintain it at its most eflicient height whereby the flame will be caused to flow along the ground.

Accordingly, it is a primary object of this invention to provide a plurality of 'flame cultivators mounted on a farm vehicle and in suchrelationship that the flames emanating from eachtflame cultivator unit cannot meet to cause an upsurge of the flames and injure crops planted in a field under cultivation. H t

A further object of this invention is to provide flamev cultivating means comprising a main burner and at least oneiauxiliary burner so that the area being burned may be completely covered. q t

A further object of this invention residesin the provision that each individual flame cultivating unit may be adjustably-positioned with respect to the ground in order to obtain optimum operating conditions. g 1

j A still further object of this invention is the provision of stabilizing means for said auxiliary burners ofthe flame cultivating means in order to maintainefficient control, of the flame emanating therefrom. t V, 3 Another object of this invention'is thejprovision of; shield means which direct the flame to its proper loca tion. 7 r j 1 j Still another object of this invention resides in the fact that the flame cultivating means is sotarranged upon the tractor that itcleans the middles aswell as the rows ofcrops. i

' A' still -further object-of this invention residesin the' 5O simple to manufacture andreq uires a minimum number 1 of parts! i s; V L:- i v These together with other obje A and advantages which will become subsequently apparent reside in the details of construction and operation. as .more fully hereinafter;

described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a rear elevational view showing the 60 tractor and a plurality of flame cultivator units.-

FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary side elevational view of the structure shown in FIGURE 1. FIGURE 3 is a sectional view taken substantially along line 3 3 of FIGURE 1.

" FIGURE 4 is a perspective-view of one flame cultivator tion.

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary sectional view taken sub- 7 stantially along line 55 of FIGURE 3 and illustrating 70 certain details of the auxiliaryburner .of the present in- Referring now more specifically to the drawings, a con numeral 12. The flame cultivator units 12 are so dis-V posed as to be adapted to burn weeds and unwanted grass in the middles 14 between the rows 16 of plants or crops. By means of auxiliary burners mounted upon the flame cultivator units the unwanted weeds and grass adjacent thecrops maybe burned without destroying or injuring any of the crops in the rows 16. With reference to FIGURE 2 it will be seen the flame cultivator units 12 arernounted adjacent each other in staggered offset relationship in order to insure that the flames emanating from adjacent unit do not unite which may be injurious to thecrops disposed between each unit. I

Each of the flame cultivator units 12 is fed propane or butane gas from a tank 18 mounted upon the tractor 10. The amount of gas may be regulated or shut off completely by the operator seated upon the tractor by means of a suitable valve such as 20 disposed in the conduit 22 through which the gas flows to eachof the flamecultivator units 12. The conduit 22 branches off into a plurality of conduits such as shown at 24, 26, and 28 which lead to each individual flame cultivatorunit 12.. i

Each of the flame cultivator units 12 is mounted upon a horizontal extension 30 of the-frame of the tractor, by means of a generally C-shaped clamp such as shown at 32. Each of said C-shaped clamps 32 telescopically receives a vertical rod member 34 which is adapted to slide within the C-shaped clamp 32 and may be retained in adjusted vertical position by means of a bolt or set-screw 36'or the like. has .a flattened face 38 at one end thereof for the purposes which will hereinafter be described.

Each of the flame cultivator units 12 comprises a'maint burner section generally designated as 40 which includes The aperture is adapted to be aligned with an aperture in the flatface 38 of the vertically extendingrodw member 34 and suitable bolt means such as shown at 52 is adapted to fasten" the two parts to gether. It should beQappareht: that the angular =position of the casing40 1 maybe varied" relative to the ground by simply loosening:

the bolt 52 and"pivotin the horizontallu relative-to fact that each flame cultivatmg "un'itis' eflicient inlusegand, a g g the .vertically" extending member 34 and" then tightening the boltz52- to iretain theftwo'parts in adjusted position. The main: burner casing- 42 has a plurality of substarn tially jrectangularapertiires 54 formed in the front facethereof. xt-The'seapertures54 open the hollow interior of thehasingsAQtg-to' th'e atmosphefe so that air' may enter within the interior of 'the'hollow casing to forma combustible' mixture with the gas emanating from the tank 18. A plurality of jets one of which is designated by the numeral 56 are adapted to enterthe interior of the hollow casing-42 and when actuated emit a' jet of gas a into the interior of; thecasing. Said jet 56 comprises a nozzle 58 and a jet orifice such as shown at 60 communieating with the interior of the casing 42., The central nozzle 58 is threadedly engaged upon anfL-shaped lug 62 rigidly attached to the rear faceof the casin gt42 and having a horizontal flange portion 64 overlying the casing j. which threadably receives said jet nozzle 58. A threaded t member such as shown at 66 and having anaperture 68 formed therethrough is threadably received in the nozzle 58 and in an elbow-shaped connector 70. The ,elbow- Each ofsa'id vertically extending rods 34 shaped connector likewise threadably mounts the other jets 56 in a like manner.

A rigid tubular rod 72 enters the center of the elbowshaped connector 70 and is threadably secured thereto. One of the lines 24, 26 or 28 is secured to the threaded upper end portion 74 of said tubular rod 72 so that gas emanating from the tank 18 may pass through one of said flexible hoses 24, 26 or 28 into said tubular rod 72 and into said elbow-shaped connector 70 whereby said gas may be disseminated by means of the threaded members 66 having apertures 68 into each of the jet nozzles 58 and into the interior of the hollow casing 42.

Threadably connected to said elbow-shaped connector 70 are a plurality of auxiliary burners generally designated by the numeral 80. Said auxiliary burners 8% generally comprise a circular tube 82 open at both of its ends and further comprising an extension of the tubular side wall such as shown at 84 and having a bent over horizontal flange 86. The horizontal flange 86 is adapted to receive a suitable jet p56 as hereinbefore described. It should be noted that the space between the horizontal flange 86 and the main tubular body 82 of the auxiliary burner 80 comprises means whereby air may enter Within the tubular burner to form a combustible mixture with gas emanating from the orifice 60, as is generally shown by the arrows in FIGURE 5. Said auxiliary burners perform the function of burning weeds adjacent the rows of crops as illustrated in FIGURE 1. It should also be evident that if the flame cultivator units are utilized to weed or cultivate only two rows one of said auxiliary burners on each of the flame cultivator units 12 may be removed as is shown in FIGURE 1.

Stabilizer means are provided on each side edge 88 of the casing 42 to prevent undue vibration of the auxiliary burners 80. Said stabilizer means comprises a pair of oppositely opening channel-shaped brackets 90 and 92 mounted at longitudinally extending points upon the side edge 88 of the casing 42. The auxiliary burner tube 82 is clampingly received in each of the opening portions of the channel-shaped brackets 90, 92 as shown in FIGURE 4 and FIGURE 3 so that any undue movement is controlled.

Each of the brackets 90, 92 has a plurality of threaded apertures such as shown at 94upon which a suitable shield and directing means 96 may be mounted by suitable fasteners such as 98. These shields serve the purpose of preventing any flame from surging upwardly as well as directing the flame towards the ground at its lower level and protecting the operator if he is in the vicinity of the tubes 82.

To operate the flame cultivator units all that is necessary is for the operator, to open the valve therefor admitting gas, which may comprise butane or propane, into the main burner 40 and auxiliary burners 80 through the conduit elbow 70 and ignite the mixture of gas and air in each of said burners by any suitable'ignition means such as a match or lighter or the like. The flame cultivating units, are staggered transversely across thetractor or farm vehicle thereby preventing any joinder' of flame emanating from adjacent burner units thus protectingthe rows of crops therebetween. The burner units may be vertically adjusted and angularly adjusted with respect to the ground level in order that the most eflicient position of use is found in accordance with the size of the weeds.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling Within the scope of the invention as claimed.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. 'A flame cultivator burner for use either singly or in groups of two or more, said flame cultivator burner comprising an elongated generally vertically disposed and inverted fan-shaped casing, open at its lower end, and closed at its upper end, at least one pair of downwardly divergent flame nozzles disposed in said casing and having fuel inlet ends opening upwardly through the upper end of saidcasing and outlet ends disposed in opposite sides of said casing, the upper end of said casing having air inlet means formed therein for admitting air into said casing for supporting combustion of fuel discharged from said outlet ends of said nozzles, at least one side of said casing having heat shield means attached thereto, said heat shield means including a channel-shaped member inclined downwardly and outwardly and supported from and at least partially embracing said one side of said casing in spaced relation thereto said one side of said casing including a pair of braces extending transversely thereof and of a size and shape conforming to the interior of said channel-shaped member, said channel-shaped member being disposed over and secured to said braces.

2. The combination of claim 1 wherein said braces project outwardly from opposite sides of said casing.

3. The combination of claim 2 wherein said burner includes at least one elongated auxiliary burner comprising an elongated tube open at both ends, generally paralleling one of said flame nozzles, and having its outlet end adjacent said one side of said casing, said tube being disposed outside of said casing and being also at least partially embraced by said channel-shaped member, there being a flame nozzle for said auxiliary blower having its outlet end communicating with the upper end of said tube and opening longituidnally of and into the latter, said channel-shaped member also at least partially embracing the outlet end of the last-mentioned flame nozzle.

References Cited by the Examiner V UNITED' STATES PATENTS Re. 22,803 10/46 McLemore 47-1 2,487,353 11/49 McLemore 471 2,569,194 9/51 Pool et a1 126271.2 

1. A FLAME CULTIVATOR BURNER FOR USE EITHER SINGLY OR IN GROUPS OF TWO OR MORE, SAID FLAME CULTIVATOR BURNER COMPRISING AN ELONGATED GENERALLY VERTICALLY DISPOSED AND INVERTED FAN-SHAPED CASING, OPEN AT ITS LOWER END, AND CLOSED AT ITS UPPER END, AT LEAST ONE PAIR OF DOWNWARDLY DIVERGENT FLAME NOZZLES DISPOSED IN SAID CASING AND HAVING FUEL INLET ENDS OPENING UPWARDLY THROUGH THE UPPER END OF SAID CASING AND OUTLET ENDS DISPOSED IN OPPOSITE SIDES OF SAID CASING, THE UPPER END OF SAID CASING HAVING AIR INLET MEANS FORMED THEREIN FOR ADMITTING AIR INTO SAID CASING FOR SUPPORTING COMBUSTION OF FUEL DISCHARGED FROM SAID OUTLET ENDS OF SAID NOZZLES, AT LEAST ONE SIDE OF SAID CASING HAVING HEAT SHIELD MEANS ATTACHED THERETO, SAID HEAT SHIELD MEANS INCLUDING A CHANNEL-SHAPED MEMBER INCLINED DOWNWARDLY AND OUTWARDLY AND SUPPORTED FROM AND AT LEAST PARTIALLY EMBRACING SAID ONE SAID CASING AT SPACED RELATION THERETO SAID ONE SIDE OF SAID CASING INCLUDING A PAIR OF BRACES EXTENDING TRANSVERSELY THEREOF AND OF A SIZE AND SHAPE CONFORMING TO THE INTERIOR OF SAID CHANNEL-SHAPED MEMBER, SAID CHANNEL-SHAPED MEMBER BEING DISPOSED OVER AND SECURED TO SAID BRACES. 